ZORK III Part One
Well, you've come a long way since you first stood by the
mailbox outside the house in the forest. You've defeated the
thief, outwitted the Wizard of Frobozz, and now, you stand at the
foot of the endless stairs, ready to embark on the final part of
your journey. So, pick up the lamp, turn it on, and head along
due South until you come to the shore of the lake. Drop the lamp
{say goodbye to it; you won't be seeing it again}, and jump into
the lake. Brrrr!!! Pretty cold! So, don't stay in there long;
swim west and then go South into the Scenic Vista. Kind of a
strange place, with changing numbers on the wall and a bare
table...not quite all that scenic, eh? Well, get the torch, and
wait for the number to change to "II." Then, touch the table. My
oh my! You're in a room from Zork II....Room 8, as a matter of
fact. However, you don't have much time to sight-see, so get the
can of Grue repellant, then try moving East, and you will find
yourself back in Scenic Vista again. Now wait for the number to
change to "III," then touch the table again. This time, you're
in a Damp Passage. Drop the torch, and just wait there until
you're pulled back to Scenic Vista. Okay, you're finished here,
so move along North to the shore, and again jump in the lake.
Splash! It hasn't gotten any warmer; in fact, you just dropped
the can of repellant. So, go Down, and you will be on the lake
bottom. Ah, there it is! But, could there be something else
there, too? "Get all," and you will have not only the repellant
but also an amulet. This is one of those "wonderful" variable
things; it may take more than one try on your part to get both
items. In the meantime, you can't stay in the icy waters too
long, and sooner or later a hungry fish will come looking for
you. Therefore, it's best to save the game before you jump in
from the Western Shore. So if you die in the water, or get eaten
by the fish, or picked up by the Roc {while you're swimming on
the surface}, you don't have to start all the way back at the
beginning. By the way, this is the only one of the Zorks where
you don't lose points if you die. But, all the items you've
collected so far get scattered all around, and it's
time-consuming to go look for them. Okay, now you have the can
and the amulet, so head Up to the surface, then South to the
Southern shore. You can see a cave to the South, and it looks
kind of dark. In fact, it *is* dark in there, which is why you
have the repellant. So, spray the smelly stuff on yourself, and
go South, and you will find yourself in a Dark Place. Go South
again, then East, and you will be in the key room. Whew! At
least there's some light in here! And by the light you can see a
strange key. Get the key, then move the manhole cover and go
down. And here you are on an aqueduct. Since you can't go back
{the Grue repellant wouldn't have lasted that long}, you might as
well go forward. So, just head along North and you will come to
the Water Slide. Go North down the slide, and guess where you
are? In the Damp Passage! And there's the torch, so pick it up,
because you're certainly going to need a light
source...especially when you think of where you're going next.
So, from the Damp Passage hike along West to the Junction {you
can't get the sword out of the rock, so don't even try}, then
South into Creepy Crawl, and Southwest into the Shadow Land. Here
we come to another variable portion of the game. You will have
to wander around in the Shadow Land until a cloaked and hooded
figure appears. When that happens, the sword will suddenly
materialize in your hand, and you will be able to fight. However,
since there's no way of telling when that will happen, you just
have to keep moving around until it does. At least you will get
a chance to practice some elementary map-making! Also, this is
the most dangerous part of the game, as the figure is quite
capable of killing you, too! So, best to save before you enter
Shadow Land. When the mysterious figure finally appears, attack
him with your sword until he is badly wounded and cannot defend
himself. At that point, get his hood. The figure will then
disappear, leaving the cloak behind. Get that also. Now, you
have to get out of here, and I can't tell you exactly how, since
there's no way of knowing exactly where you were when the fight
started. However, if you go Eastwards, you will exit the Shadow
Land at either the Creepy Crawl or the Foggy Room. From either
place, go North to the Junction.
ZORK III Part Two
From the Junction, it's West through the Barren Area, and West
again to the Cliff. Bet you just can't wait to climb down the
rope, huh? Well, pick up the bread first, then go down to the
ledge. Well, well, a chest! Too bad you don't have a key to
open it. In fact, there's no way for you to open it at all. But
don't despair, there's a way of doing it. Just wait around and
someone will come along the top of the cliff. You may not really
trust him, but tie the rope to the chest when he asks, and wait
around some more. Eventually, he will return and help you back
up the cliff. He will also give you a staff, which is what
you're really after here. Take the staff, then go back down to
the ledge, and from there, to the Cliff Base. Now trek South to
the Flathead Ocean, and do a little more waiting. Sooner or
later a ship will come floating by. As soon as you see it, say:
"Hello, Sailor." The man in the ship will throw something onto
the beach for you. Take a look, and you will see it's a vial.
It'll come in handy later, so pick it up. Now comes the fun
part: You have to wait for the earthquake {notice how you've been
doing a lot of waiting around? I hope you're a patient person!}.
While you're waiting, you might want to wander around a little,
although you've been to most of the accessible places by now. In
any case, wherever you are, once the earthquake hits, make your
way to the Creepy Crawl, and from there East into the Tight
Squeeze, then East again into the Crystal Grotto. Then all the
way South to the Great Door, and East into the Museum Entrance.
Now, open the East door, then go North into the Museum. Look at
the gold machine {it's a time machine, in case you were
wondering}, then set the dial to 776. Here comes the fun part:
Push the machine South into the Entrance, then East into the
Jewel Room. Get into the machine, and push the button. Aha! Now
you're back in 776 GUE, but the time machine seems to have
vanished! No matter, wait for the guards to leave, then get the
ring {and *only* the ring!}, then open the door, go out into the
Entrance, open the North door and go North. By golly, the
machine is right there! Put the ring under the seat, turn the
dial to 948, get in, and push the button. Whew, you're back in
the right time period again. Get out of the machine, look under
the seat {you will get the ring automatically when you do this},
then back South, and South again, to the Royal Puzzle. Okay
folks, you are about to enter the absolute nastiest part of the
game. You must follow the instructions *EXACTLY* as given, or
you will never get out. And, since it would be easy to make a
mistake here, I strongly recommend you save the game. 1. Go
Down the hole, then push the South wall. Then go East, South,
East, East. Push the South wall, get the book, and push the
South wall again. 2. Push the West wall twice. Then go East,
South, and push the East wall. 3. Now, go straight North until
you come to the marble wall, and push the East wall. 4. Now, go
West, South, South, South, South, East, East, North, North,
North, and push the West wall. 5. From there, go East, South,
South, South, West, West, West, West, North, North, North, West,
North. Push the East wall three times. 6. Now, West, West,
South, South, East, East, South, and push the East wall. 7.
Okay, now West, West, West, North, North, North, East, East, and
push the South wall two times. 8. From there, West, South,
South, East, East, North, and push the West wall two times. 9.
Now, South, West, and push the North wall until it won't move any
more. 10. Then West and North. Finally! You have maneuvered the
ladder under the hole {which was the purpose of all this pushing
and running around}, and now you can just go up and out! WHEW!!!!
ZORK III Part Three
Okay, you've solved the Royal Puzzle and you have the book, so
go North to the Museum Entrance, then open the East door and get
your other stuff from the Jewel Room. Then it's back West to the
Great Door, and from there back to the Junction. Now, East into
the Damp Passage, and NE to the Engravings Room. Well, we have
here yet another {!} of those variable events: Sooner or later,
an old man will be sleeping here. If he isn't there the first
time you arrive, walk around a little and return. When you
finally do see him, wake him up and give him the bread. He will
eat it and then make visible to you a secret door. He will then
vanish. Okay, you're getting closer to the end! Open the door,
and go into the Button Room, then North to the Beam Room. Put
the sword in the beam, then go back to the Button Room and push
the button. Now, back North to the Beam Room and North again into
the Mirror Room. There will be an opening in the Mirror, so go
North one more time, and you will be inside. Now, don't let the
long and complicated descriptions scare you! It's not really as
bad as you think {it's worse! heheheheh..just kidding!}. First,
raise the short pole. Then, push the white panel twice. Now,
push the pine panel, and go North. Okay, so here you are,
standing a little too close for comfort to the Guardians of Zork.
If I were you, I wouldn't try going past them quite yet! Open
the vial, then drink the liquid. While nothing seems to have
happened, you have in fact become invisible. Now you can walk
North until you come to the locked door. Knock on the door, and
the Dungeon Master will open it and let you in. All right, hang
in there, you have reached the end game! Go North, then West,
then North again. The DM will be following you. Go North to the
Parapet, set the dial to 4, and push the button. Now, go South,
open the cell door, and step inside. The DM will not follow you
in. Once inside, you will notice a bronze door in one of the
walls. However, you can't open it yet! Something else has to be
done. And it will have to be done by someone else. So, first
tell the DM to go to the Parapet. Then tell him to turn the dial
to 1, and then tell him to push the button. All right!! The
magic moment has arrived! Unlock the bronze door with the key,
open the door, and go South!
***** TA DA!! *****
Finally, Zork is finished! You have survived all the perils,
pitfalls, and puzzles, and now, *YOU* are the new Dungeon Master.
Have fun!